


The Time of The Old Religion Has Passed

by writteninhaste



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-14 16:30:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2198892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writteninhaste/pseuds/writteninhaste
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Men no longer believe...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Time of The Old Religion Has Passed

Trapped within a cave, wrapped beneath enchantments not even he can break, Merlin sleeps. And in his sleep, he dreams.

At first, the dreams are of times he knew – places he had seen. He dreams of Arthur and Avalon. These dreams make him smile.

Later, as the years change, so do the dreams. He watches as the world evolves, as explorers discover new lands and find new ways to exploit the Earth. Gases poison the sky, and toxins poison the soil, and Merlin can feel Nature weeping. She cries for the children she has lost, who no longer hear her calling.

Merlin screams in his sleep when the bombs fall on London. He cannot scream when they fall of Nagasaki; the pain is simply too great. He had never expected to be so connected to so many places, but as men discover new lands so does he. He never regretted this bonding, until that day.

The pain takes decades to fade, and just when he thinks the world is healing, there is an accident and the world hurts again. Merlin can forgive this one, no one is to blame, but the Old Religion feels differently. An incurable disease sweeps the world, slowly stealing lives, and Merlin can do nothing to assuage the Old Religions wrath. Looking back, he can see this pandemic has been in the making since the first time the Earth screamed; he was just too blind to see it.

And so, Merlin watches, sad at heart, and clings to the knowledge that one day he and Arthur will return to this world and they will have a chance to set things right.

But the years pass and melt into decades and men develop the power to mimic life and death themselves. In the back of his mind, he feels the Old Religion stirring. It is fearful. It’s time is ending. Still, Merlin watches men as they go about their lives, endlessly falling in a spiral of destruction. Soon, soon Arthur will return to England and Merlin will be with him.

He waits decades more; watching with a mixture of fear and anticipation, until the unthinkable happens: the power of Old Religion dies. On that day, even lost to dreams, Merlin feels a level of terror he has never felt before. The Old Religion is the power of the Earth itself and yet it has died. Men no longer believe they need the natural world – consumed as they are by the power of machines. He knows Nature still thrives, will thrive until the planet dies, but she no longer has the strength to influence men’s lives. With a sinking heart, Merlin accepts what this means.

It is too late. When Arthur is once again needed, England will no longer be able to recognise him. Even if Arthur were to appear before all the people of _Earth_ , ready to deliver them from their fate, they would not see him. Men’s faith has waned, and with it, the possibility that they could be saved by the last of the Pendragon line.

Regretfully, Merlin releases his hold on the cycle of Fate. Arthur will rest in Avalon until the end of time – never again to walk on England’s shores. Their time is passed; this world no longer has a need for them. Merlin will remain here for all eternity – caged by men’s inability to have faith in something greater than themselves. He will never see Arthur again.

Trapped within a cave, wrapped beneath enchantments not even he can break, Merlin sleeps. And in his sleep, he cries.  



End file.
